Techniques for automatically designing structural systems for buildings

Abstract

In various embodiments, a gravity design application automatically generates a design for a structural system of a building. The gravity design application performs partitioning operation(s) based on an outline of a first floor included in a computer-aided design of the building to generate a set of segments. Subsequently, the gravity design application generates a set of segment designs based on the set of segments, constraint(s), and design objective(s). The set of segment designs includes at least one segment design for each of the segments included in the set of segments. The gravity design application determines a combination of floor designs from multiple sets of floor designs based the design objective(s), where each set of floor designs is associated with a different floor of the computer-aided design of the building. The gravity design application generates the design for the structural system of the building based on the combination of floor designs.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for automatically generating a design for a structural system of a building, the method comprising:
 generating a first floor structure template based on a first outline of a first floor included in a computer-aided design of the building;   partitioning the first floor structure template into a plurality of segments;   generating a plurality of partial designs for a first segment of the plurality of segments;   generating a plurality of ranked optimized partial designs for the first segment based on a set of constraints and an objective function;   merging the plurality of ranked optimized partial designs with at least one other plurality of ranked optimized partial designs generated for the first floor to generate a first ranked floor design list for the first floor; and   generating the design for the structural system of the building based at least in part on the first ranked floor design list for the first floor.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first floor structure template specifies a slab having a horizontal cross-section that matches the first outline; and   each segment included in the plurality of segments is associated with a different portion of the slab.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the plurality of partial designs for the first segment comprises:
 generating a layout for the first segment, wherein the layout specifies at least one slab, at least one beam and at least one column;   computing sizing data for the at least one slab, the at least one beam, and the at least one column based on the layout, the set of constraints, and the objective function; and   generating a first partial design for the first segment based on the layout and the sizing data.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein computing the sizing data comprises sequentially executing a plurality of optimization algorithms on the layout based on the set of constraints and the objective function to generate a first portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one slab, a second portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one beam, and a third portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one column. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the first floor structure template is included in a plurality of floor structure templates generated based on outlines of other floors included in the computer-aided design of the building. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein each floor structure template included in the plurality of floor structure templates is partitioned into a different plurality of segments. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein each ranked floor design included in the first ranked floor design list comprises a different design for the first floor that is generated based on a different subset of the plurality of partial designs. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the first ranked floor design list comprises executing at least one of a genetic algorithm, a harmony search algorithm, or an integer optimization algorithm based on the plurality of ranked optimized partial designs and the objective function. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the generating the first ranked floor design list for the first floor comprises merging a highest ranked optimized partial design included in the plurality of ranked optimized partial designs with a highest ranked optimized partial design included in the at least one other plurality of ranked optimized partial designs. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the objective function includes at least one of minimizing total weight, minimizing embodied carbon, minimizing material cost, or minimizing material waste. 
     
     
         11 . One or more non-transitory computer readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to automatically generate a design for a structural system of a building, by performing the steps of:
 generating a first floor structure template based on a first outline of a first floor included in a computer-aided design of the building;   partitioning the first floor structure template into a plurality of segments;   generating a plurality of partial designs for a first segment of the plurality of segments;   generating a plurality of ranked optimized partial designs for the first segment based on a set of constraints and an objective function;   merging the plurality of ranked optimized partial designs with at least one other plurality of ranked optimized partial designs generated for the first floor to generate a first ranked floor design list for the first floor; and   generating the design for the structural system of the building based at least in part on the first ranked floor design list for the first floor.   
     
     
         12 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the first floor structure template specifies a slab having a horizontal cross-section that matches the first outline; and   each segment included in the plurality of segments is associated with a different portion of the slab.   
     
     
         13 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein generating the plurality of partial designs for the first segment comprises:
 generating a layout for the first segment, wherein the layout specifies at least one slab, at least one beam and at least one column;   computing sizing data for the at least one slab, the at least one beam, and the at least one column based on the layout, the set of constraints, and the objective function; and   generating a first partial design for the first segment based on the layout and the sizing data.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 13 , wherein computing the sizing data comprises sequentially executing a plurality of optimization algorithms on the layout based on the set of constraints and the objective function to generate a first portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one slab, a second portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one beam, and a third portion of the sizing data that is associated with the at least one column. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the first floor structure template is included in a plurality of floor structure templates generated based on outlines of other floors included in the computer-aided design of the building. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 15 , wherein each floor structure template included in the plurality of floor structure templates is partitioned into a different plurality of segments. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein a different plurality of partial designs is generated for each plurality of segments included in the different plurality of segments. 
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the first floor is selected from a plurality of floors included in the computer-aided design of the building. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 11 , further comprising displaying at least a portion of the design for the structural system of the building within a user interface of a software application. 
     
     
         20 . A system, comprising:
 one or more memories storing instructions; and   one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories that, when executing the instructions, automatically generate a design for a structural system of a building, by performing the steps of:
 generating a first floor structure template based on a first outline of a first floor included in a computer-aided design of the building; 
 partitioning the first floor structure template into a plurality of segments; 
 generating a plurality of partial designs for a first segment of the plurality of segments; 
 generating a plurality of ranked optimized partial designs for the first segment based on a set of constraints and an objective function; 
 merging the plurality of ranked optimized partial designs with at least one other plurality of ranked optimized partial designs generated for the first floor to generate a first ranked floor design list for the first floor; and 
 generating the design for the structural system of the building based at least in part on the first ranked floor design list for the first floor.